First TransPennine Express

First TransPennine Express

185117 departing from Scarborough
Overview
Franchise(s)	TransPennine Express 1 February 2004 – 31 March 2016
Main route(s)	North West England, Yorkshire and Humber, North East England, Scotland
Fleet size	67 units (6 units were subleased from Northern Rail)
Stations called at	90
Stations operated	30
National Rail abbreviation	TP
Parent company	FirstGroup & Keolis

First TransPennine Express was a British train operating company jointly owned by FirstGroup and Keolis which operated the TransPennine Express franchise. First TransPennine Express ran regular Express regional railway services between the major cities of Northern England as well as Scotland.

The franchise operated all its services to and through Manchester covering three main routes. The service provided rail links for major towns and cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield, Hull, Leeds, York, Scarborough, Middlesbrough and Newcastle. Previously, all services called or terminated at Manchester Piccadilly, but, as of May 2014, a new service running between Newcastle Central and Liverpool Lime Street, calling at Manchester Victoria was announced, and launched as part of the Northern Hub plan.

When the franchise was re-tendered, FirstGroup and Keolis tendered separately. The franchise was awarded solely to FirstGroup. The new franchise drops the 'First' branding and is simply known as TransPennine Express.

The TransPennine Express brand was launched in the early 1990s by British Rail, and maintained by the privatised operator Northern Spirit and its successor, Arriva Trains Northern.